Down to Sleep
by Kourin Lucrece
Summary: Salem's Lot The point of view of a girl in the lot between dusk Oct. 6 and dawn Oct. 7 oneshot


Down To Sleep

Kourin Lucrece

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it...

Author's Note: 'Salem's Lot is one of my very favorite novels. This idea just randomly popped into my head and I had to write it down. I hope I do both the book and my idea justice, as the saying goes. Also, I know that none of the prayers mentioned are even close to finished, but that's kind of the point... Please read and review, let me know what you think.

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The lot was disturbingly empty that evening; the streets bare, the shops and houses tightly locked. An oppressive feeling of terror hung tensely in the air and everything was oddly silent. It was like the calm before a storm, as though the entire town were holding its breath to await that first bolt of lightening. Yet, somehow, she knew it was too late.

The storm had already begun.

Katie was in her bedroom, staring out the window. A tight, panicky feeling had been building in her chest all day, and now, hearing the oddly loud crackling of autumn leaves in the wind, the emotion found its ramification. The town was dead. Not the empty, harmless, gone forever kind of dead, either. Somehow, it was far worse than that. The town was evil.

(_As I lay me down to sleep..._)

Unconsciously, she grasped the small silver cross hanging about her neck. Katie felt more than heard or saw the dark creatures passing in the night. It was as though each of their shadows passed over her heart, and their wickedly gleeful cries echoed in her soul. They would come to the windows, knock on the doors, beg for entry and look familiar. But they weren't. Dear God, they weren't what they seemed!

(_If I should die before I wake..._)

(Mama, don't let them in!)

She turned abruptly away from the window, shutting her eyes and covering her ears. If she looked again, she would see their glowing eyes and be unable to resist their soft crooning. Katie let us in...

Part of her was insisting that she was being foolish. Demons and vampires did not, _could_ not exist. But they did, and they could, and they were there! Katie could sense the evil trying to get in. It struck a shameful, familiar chord deep within her somewhere.

Perhaps this was what it was like to go insane, she found herself thinking miserably. When all the demons and nightmares in your mind come out to play.

(_Dear Lord in Heaven... Our Father..._)

Her thoughts were jumbled. Even the prayers she had said every night before falling asleep now eluded her. There was a scratching at her windows. It was the sound of fingernails on glass. It jarred down her spine, crowding her thoughts and nerves with what lurked outside her window.

(_Lord of Flies... accept this sacrifice of blood and flesh..._)

Still without opening her eyes, Katie practically flung herself across the room. She huddled in the corner furthest from the window, trying to think of other things. If she didn't think of them, didn't believe in them, they didn't exist. Danny Glick would not be outside her window with other children from their class, all pale as snow with red eyes and sharp teeth ready to... No! Danny was dead! There was no one there – no one at all.

(_Yea, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death..._)

Katie took a deep breath to calm herself. It didn't work, and the scratching grew louder. They were going to get in, invited or not, and she would be killed. Torn to bits by their nails and teeth as they scurried to drink her blood. She would lose her life and, beyond that, her soul.

(_...I shall fear no evil..._)

"Go away!" she cried, and was shocked when the noise ceased. Cautiously opening her eyes, Katie saw only blackness outside the window. She nearly fainted with relief, still sitting on the floor. The beating of her heart pounded in her ears, but she took deep (if shaky) breaths until it subsided. They had gone...

She jumped at the sound of a knock on her bedroom door, but it was only her mother's voice on the other side. "Katie, sweet-heart, are you alright?"

"Yeah, Mama, just a bad dream, I guess." Maybe it had been, too... only a dream. A nightmare really, but all the same, dreams were fairly harmless.

"Can I come in, then?"

Katie stood up and dusted herself off. "Sure, Mama."

But as the door swung open, and her mother's face appeared, Katie realized numbly why the scratching had stopped. Outside, the wind howled in fury as the lights suddenly went dark.

(_Now I lay me down to sleep..._)


End file.
